Game: The Desolation of Skaro
After the events of The Crimson Sphere, the Shadow Proclamation has ordered the capture and permanent destruction of Dalek X. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but he was last detected heading in the direction of a certain planet. That planet is Skaro. Expect no mercy. Starring the Toothless as Shadow, the Pingwy as Rangon, and the Holben as E-Kaidar, with the Styro as Unmerciful GM. Pursuit Ship (Toothless/Ping) 1 You are both nearing the planet Skaro in a beta-class Shadow Proclamation pursuit ship. It is fully stocked, and each of you may take two items from this page in order to aid you in the quest. You're going to need them. 2 I take a Particle Gun and a K9 Mark 2. "So...we're heading for the home planet of the most dangerous warrior race the universe has ever seen, a warrior race many thought to be mythical... and we're doing so in a single ship and a pair of agents. I'm not sure if I understand the strategic thinking behind this operation." 3 I take a Plasma Cannon and a Laser Supreme. 4 Before you can make your next move, a gigantic blast from the planet's surface hits the pursuit ship, knocking out the engines and throwing you both to the floor. A tractor beam is dragging the ship down, and not doing it very gently either. From what you can see, structural integrity is critical and you will crash onto Skaro very shortly. There is one escape pod. 5 I check the ship sensors. What is the likelihood of our surviving the crash? 6 I wait for him to check the sensors, but stand by the escape pod just in case. 7 You would crash at a fairly high speed, so to survive a bit of a miracle would have to happen. You would also land at what appears to be a rocky wasteland full of damaging radiation. Better decide soon. 8 "Umm, I hate to bring this up, but only one person can use the escape pod, you see, and..." I notice Shadow's close position to the pod. "Oh. I see you've already, to use a human phrase, 'called dibs.' My apologies." 9 I look at your Particle Gun, then at mine. "I don't think phrases like that count for anything in deep space when we're about to crash into the deadliest planet in the universe. Whoever shoots first gets the shuttle. You couldn't do it last time..." 10 Still crashing. You really should do something right about now. 11 I stiffen. "I won't kill another being solely so I can live. That's not the Saturnynian way. Now take the pod." With those words, I peel off a sheet of panneling and see iif there's still a working transmat on board. 12 "Good luck, then." I take the escape pod, and head for the surface of Skaro. 13 Shadow flies away and finds himself in The Jungle. There does not appear to be a transmat where you are looking, but before you can make another move the ship crashes and a piece of debris knocks you out. Consciousness returns a few minutes later. Miraculously, you have survived the crash, namely because your body has come to rest on a supply of portable bedding material on board the pursuit ship. Your K9 beeps at you. 14 I look at the K9. "You know those little lobsters the humans break open and eat with their pliers?" I rub my head gingerly. "I feel like one of those." I crawl out of the wreckage and hesitantly survey my surroundings. 15 There are rocks and cliffs all around you, as well as a thick blanket of fog. There is a lake a kilometer or two ahead of you, and a flat plain off to your right. The air here is rather unpleasant, for reasons you can't quite comprehend, but it makes you feel a bit light-headed. '' 16 As my Moisturizer Armor will keep me hydrated, I head for the cliff. 17 ''The lightheadedness turns into a full headache as you move. The cliff itself is very rocky, and you can see some interesting shapes at its base. 18 Do we have headaches on the Conditions page? :P I go to investigate the strange shapes. 19 Not yet anyway :P Upon closer examination, the strange shapes appear to be a form of landmine, so far unexploded. It also appears that you are resting your foot on one of them. You can try moving if you like, but roll two dice to do so. A roll of 7 or above will result in success, otherwise it blows up. 20 "K9," I say slowly, "Can you defuse the landmine?" 21 "Affirmative. There is a fifty percent chance that I will succeed in this task. Shall I proceed?" 22 Wastelands (Holben) 1 The Kroton Absolute has sent you to Skaro in order to eliminate the threat posed by Dalek X. You materialize in a rugged, foggy wasteland. There are mountainous ridges in front of you, while to your right there are pools of a strange, hissing liquid. 2 E-Kaidar extends a sensor needle into the liquid to analyse it, while scanning the area. 3 It's water, but heavily irradiated. Your scans reveal similar results: the surroundings are full of radiation and other similar nasty things. Movement can be detected beyond the mountains. 4 "Main-tain-al-ert-ness." He mumbles to himself as he heads off up the mountains. 5 You are halfway up the mountain when your sensors alert you to an unexploded landmine, half embedded in the rock, a short distance in front of you. 6 E-Kaidar makes sure he is at a safe distance and then fires his Lattice Cannon at the landmine. 5, if it is relevant. 7 It explodes. Your sensors detect a couple more landmines, further ahead of you, of the same type. 8 E-Kaidar shoots his Shard Cannon and hits them both. Gotta love that 15 MKS. He analyses the explosion characteristics to determine tech level. 9 They are reasonably advanced landmines, but much more primitive than a Dalek would ever willingly design. 10 While accessing and analysing his memories of anti-Dalek training, E-Kaidar continues up the mountain. 11 You reach the top of the mountains. You can see a large lake, stained a dull red in color. There are yet more landmines to your left and right, but of two different types. 12 Shooting three, the Kroton analyses them for differences. 13 There are minor differences in their structure and parts, but overall they are of the same tech level, possibly created by two different but technologically similar species. 14 E-Kaidar continues through, shooting landmines as he goes. 15 You trundle down the other side of the mountain, towards the lake. The sounds of explosions seems to have attracted some attention, as you detect movement and noises coming from within a small cave in the side of the mountain. 16 E-Kaidar scans for biologicals or electronic signatures. 17 It's a biological signature. You can see several black tentacle-things wriggling their way into the sunlight. 18 Firing his Lattice Cannon, E-Kaidar causes 300 (k) damage. 19 The mangled form of a Slyther falls out of the cave. A second Slyther assaults you from behind, which deals...not enough damage to really even mention at this point, considering your armor. 20 E-Kaidar turns around and scans it fully before shooting it in the face with his lattice cannon. 21 It is a perfectly normal, adult, healthy, and now dead Slyther. 22 E-Kaidar heads into the cave, scanners scanning. 23 The cave leads into three tunnels; one to the right, one to the left, and one straight ahead. 24 E-Kaidar takes the rightist option. 25 A wise choice. As you trundle along the winding tunnel, you detect vigorous movement around the next bend, and sounds of equipment. 26 Can E-Kaidar identify the biosignatures? 27 Basic humanoid. Unusually, however, you are getting mixed readings from the scan, and so cannot identify them any further. 28 He continues on to meet them. 29 They're humanoid, with arms and legs and faces and things. They appear to be mining the tunnel walls with pickaxes and blasters. The debris that falls away is picked up and then carted away. Despite the conditions, they appear very clean and healthy. 30 "Gree-tings. Let-us-est-ab-lish-post-it-ive-rel-a-tions." 31 One of them turns to look at you, but then resumes working. The others ignore you entirely. 32 E-Kaidar heads on then, past them. 33 The tunnel is tight, and you can barely move through with the people lining the walls. In fact, you are forced to stop, because a trolley full of rocks is in your way. 34 E-Kaidar picks up the trolley, lifts it over his head, and places it behind him before continuing on. 35 The noise of the trolley banging against the floor attracts three of the miners, who begin shooting at you with Hasers. Two hits, one miss. (Calculate the damage on your own - Unmerciful GM is Unmerciful.) 36 Not enough to care about. E-Kaidar shoots each with a shard cannon shot (all hits), and that low Thal health means that brings them all down to unconsciousness. 37 They are not Thals. As a result, they keep shooting at you. All three hit this time. You can hear the sounds of running feet, heading to join your attackers. 38 E-Kaidar uses his Neural Projector to finish one off and bring himself back up to full health. 39 The Jungle (Toothless) 1 The pod sails through the atmosphere before abruptly hitting a mass of leaves, branches, and squished fruit. It tumbles down through the canopy before coming to a rest at the ground and opening. 2 I pick up all my weaponry and get out of the pod to have a look around. 3 The jungle is very jungle-like. In particular, the foliage is very thick, and it is difficult to see more than a few meters in front of you. A small animal scurries across your path. 4 I ignore it and start exploring the area. 5 You come across a lone Varga Plant, which warbles and starts advancing towards you. 6 I shoot it with my Particle Gun and continue (I rolled a 6). 7 It dies. As you continue the trek you notice that the foliage starts changing color. The color fades and greys as you move further away from the pod site. 8 I don't think that's a good sign. I continue regardless. 9 A small metallic creature sits in your way, and looks up at you with two beady little eyes suspended on stalks. 10 I shoot it with my Particle Gun, rolling a 7. 11 It dies, but a plated metallic skeleton is left behind. Around you, the trees have almost no trace of green left in them, and you are starting to feel a bit light-headed. 12 I turn around and travel at a right angle to the way I was going, to see if the light-headedness goes away. 13 It lessens slightly, but not by much. As you travel, you see footprints in the ground, heading towards the greener parts of the forest. They come from some four-legged beast and several creatures that appear to be wearing shoes. 14 I follow the shoe-prints, hoping to find some locals (who are obviously not Daleks, because Daleks do not wear shoes). 15 Unless they are ballet dancer Daleks. You move back into the green jungle and you are all back to normal. The footprints seem to lead into a clearing among the trees, but it's difficult to see from where you are standing. 16 I enter the clearing. "Hello?" 17 There appears to be a group of buildings in the clearing, fairly high-tech, but all this is moot to you because you feel the barrel of a gun being pointed against your head. "Identify yourself." 18 "I'm Shadow, I work as a mercenary. Been sent here on business. Looking for a guy." 19 Your assailant, like the four others standing behind him, is humanoid in physiology with blond hair. "Who exactly are you looking for?" he asks, keeping the gun against your head. "We're very suspicious about strangers these days." 20 "Not one of your kind. It's... complicated. I was with a friend, too, but we got separated in a crash... I don't suppose you've seen him? A Saturnyn, came in a beta-class Shadow Proclamation spaceship." 21 "We haven't seen anybody like that. I say again: ''who is it that you are looking for?" He appears to be getting impatient. Others of his kind emerge from the buildings in order to watch.'' 22 "Dalek X." 23 He steps back abruptly, lowering the gun. "Alright," he says. "This better be good." They lead you into the clearing. "Are you here to help the Thals? Ever since that...''thing reared its ugly head we've been needing support."'' 24 "I've never heard of Thals. But I want Dalek X gone as well, so I guess I am here to help. Do you know anything of his whereabouts?" 25 The Thal shakes his head. "Somewhere on Skaro, but that's as precise as we can get. No doubt he's trying to hook up with the other Daleks. My name is Baldeon, by the way." 26 "Well then, I guess the first job is to look for my friend. Is there anywhere the ship would have been likely to crash? We were struck by some sort of energy beam on the way here." 27 Category:Games